By Rupert Howell
St. Jude  Master Chef Miles McMath will bring an entourage of additional chefs and noted cooks along this Saturday when 4Rivers Fresh Foods sponsors a three-course Farm to Table Candlelit Picnic at Home Place Pastures in Como.

Host Marshall Bartlett said that free music is open to everyone following  Saturday night’s Candlelit Picnic.

The dinner will take place from 5 to 7 p.m. and will include a farm tour with the music and after party following. Tickets are $25 for the three course meal and may be purchased by calling 901-326-1627.

 The dinner, from 5-7p.m., features whole animals and vegetables exclusively from farms within 150 miles of Como, and all dishes are cooked on an open bonfire.  Chef McMath calls this unique style of off-the-cuff, on the spot cooking his “Culinary Circus”  and he is adding many notable chefs and food writers to the mix who are in town (Memphis area) for the St. Jude Garden Harvest Party the following Sunday. 

 After the dinner, from 7 p.m. on, the event is free and open to the public. 

“Though the three course meal will be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced, and is a flat out steal for $25, if you can’t make that you can always just come later and enjoy live blues from local artists including R.L. Boyce, the Comotions, and Rev. John Wilkins.  BYOB,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett also noted that sponsors will be accepting donations for St. Jude on site.

Home Place Pastures is a family-owned farm dating to 1871. The Bartlett family is transitioning the farm into a sustainable, pastured pork operation, meaning animals are free to roam pasture and woods, enjoying grass and sunshine as opposed to cramped feeding barns.

The event will feature Home Place Pastures’ pork along with locally grown vegetables and locally made ice-ream.

McMath resides in Hernando where he raises much of his own food. He has been the owner of three successful restaurants. He maintains a garden at St. Jude where he, along with his volunteer gardeners, raise mushrooms, lettuce and asparagus.

4Rivers Fresh Foods was established last year as an online farmers market where customers can order bags of locally grown produce weekly.

Established under the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, 4Rivers has recently received its nonprofit status.